This day is why Utahns love the month of July. Pioneer Day is a state holiday, meaning that all of us get the day off to celebrate our ancestors and heritage. The history of Utah being settled has deep roots in the pioneers crossing the plains from the settled East to the desert of the West. Indian country and the wild west didn't look like paradise to the early Latter Day Saints, but neither did cutthroat mobs and persecution. It was a good thing those Mormons left when they did, because soon thereafter the Civil War began between the confederates and the union. So in the mid 1800s hundreds of pioneers traveled across the plains, the mountains, and the desert to settle in Utah. What a wonderful heritage to have, to be descended from those courageous men, women, and children. Why not have a day in July to celebrate the wonderful valley they settled for us, to give us this beautiful life we have. I get to live in the shadow of a mountain! I don't go anywhere without seeing those monstrous earth-forms watching over me, protecting me, reminding me that God made the Earth for us to come here. And God also helped those saints reach Utah safely so they could live here. This is the essence of Pioneer Day. Gratitude and our ancestor's Legacy.
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